Executive Board Meeting 2/2/2010

February 2nd 6.15pm
Council Chamber, Civic Centre, Pershore

The Executive Board meet in public every 4/6 weeks and you can view the agendas and minutes of these meetings. They can also meet in private subject to the access to information rules. Most councillors attend these meetings and while unable to vote, can voice comments, concerns and suggestions.

What the executive board does

The executive board has responsibility for implementing the budgetary and policy framework of the council and has full authority in this respect. This means that most of its decisions do not need the approval of the full council. However, if they propose making changes to the framework, these must be submitted to the full council for a decision.
The executive board also makes key decisions. These are decisions that either have a significant impact on the local community or have major financial implications.
The functions of the executive board can also be delegated to an individual executive member or a chief officer. All future key decisions should be included in the forward plan. Key decisions that have not been included cannot be taken unless strict criteria justifying the need for urgency have been met. When a decision has been made it is published and can then be ‘called in’ by the relevant select committee (see the ‘select committees’ page for more information).

For further information on the leader and each of the executive members, click here:- Members

Unusually at this meeting, a petition was handed to me, as Chairman of the council. This would normally be done at full council, however the next one is not until February 23rd. On this occasion the leader of the council allowed the petition to be presented prior to the start of Executive Board.

Councillor Adrian Derby handing over the petition which read:-

This petition calls for Kemerton’s re-classification under the South Worcestershire Joint Core Strategy (SWJCS), from Category 2 Village to Category 3 or higher, for the following reasons:

· Due to its lack of employment, inadequate roads and restricted services, Kemerton is relatively unsustainable as a location for a significant number of new dwellings, other than to meet any identified need for local affordable housing. The provision of local affordable housing needs to be consistent with the existing limited infrastructure.

· Under the Government’s Planning Policy Statement 1: Delivering Sustainable Development (PPS1), ‘sustainability’ should not only be defined in terms of access to jobs, services and transport, but also must ensure the protection of nationally designated landscapes. All land bordering the existing Kemerton Settlement Boundary is located in the Cotswolds AONB. Under Section 85 of the Countryside and Rights of Way Act (2000) the South Worcestershire local authorities have a statutory obligation to “have regard to the purpose of conserving and enhancing the natural beauty of the AONB”.

· Kemerton’s key & secondary services score in the SWJCS scoring of villages is not accurate. The village does not contain an ‘other recreational’ facility and its score should therefore be reduced from 14 to 13. This would rank Kemerton = 46th in South Worcestershire in terms of sustainability instead of = 38th.

· In Wychavon there are seven Category 3 villages with scores of 15 or more. Any of these villages would be a more sustainable location for development than Kemerton.

· Traffic and lack of parking are a serious problem in and around the High Street, where Kemerton’s two ‘key services’ (shop/post office and village hall) are located. The results of the Parish Plan survey clearly show that both are already losing custom due to a lack of available parking on a busy road. The burden of extra traffic generated by new development in Kemerton and neighbouring villages is likely to outweigh the gain to these services of demographic increases, thereby threatening their future viability.

This petition was produced between 12 and 18th December in order to be available to an Officers’ Meeting considering the SWJCS on 21 December. Nonetheless 163 out of 180 households on the electoral roll were visited (a number of people were away or working late during the period). Of these, 98% expressed the view that Kemerton fitted more naturally into Category 3. It contains 250 signatures.